In the Rising Sun - Tales of the Maata family, and their friends

Kiri Maata

Profession: Guardian

Occupation: Lieutenant for Serenity Moon
Former: Vigil Tactician, Seraph soldier

Age: 25

Birthday: 74 Colossus

Height: 5’3

Weight: 135 lbs

Appearance: Kiri has thick, dark hair that once was jet black in color, but has since faded to a grey-ish black with the stress of her life. She wears it down, framing her face, and tied off in the back with a ribbon. Faint lines have recently begun to etch her features, but her deep violet eyes hold a burning passion. Her skin is lightly tanned and shows her lean muscles, but is severely scarred with burns from her neck down. The scars have faded some recently, but are still readily obvious in most casual wear. She tends to wear a simple tunic and trouser outfit off duty. Her armor is worn on duty, and is crafted of polished metal plating, with black and blue accents. She is never seen not wearing her family crest ring, a simple, sapphire ring with the emblem of an oak tree in the rising sun engraved on the gem. She also wears a pair of similar rings, her parents’ wedding rings, on a chain around her neck. She gives rings matching her own as gifts to those people she holds in the highest regard.

Preferred weapons: Kiri primarily carries a greatsword that glows with blue Guardian magic, and a longbow of blued steel. She is trained in all manner of weaponry, however, and isn’t shy about using her fist, foot, or teeth if needed.

Personality: In the past, Kiri was known for having a hot head. She tended to go with her temper and jump into dangerous situations without thinking. These days, she is more level. She still has a temper, but is more able to restrain it when she needs to. She has also developed a passion for protecting her allies even at the price of harm to herself. To people who don’t know her, she first comes off as a bit guarded and sometimes rude. When she opens up, however, she is revealed to be a warm, loving person. Due to circumstances in her life, she is often reluctant to show how much pain she is in, whether physical or emotional. Having spent so many years working to hide her own suffering, she has a knack for spotting it on other people. When she does, she will try to do anything she can to help.

History: Born to loving parents alongside her brother, Rowiri, Kiri grew up on a farm just outside of Shaemoor. She led a normal, happy childhood, helping with crops and chores and playing with her best friend, the Innkeeper's daughter, Kari. At the age of six, after an accident when she fell into a drake's nest while playing, it was discovered she carried a curse thought to have been broken two generations earlier. The curse caused exposure to magic to cause intense amounts of physical pain, and direct magic casted on her to either have odd effects, be intensified, or to be neutralized entirely. It also suppressed her own ability to use magic. The curse would influence much of Kiri's life following its discovery.

However, Kiri was a stubborn little girl, and refused to let "some old stupid curse" define her. Despite her curse, and Kari's tendancy to lose control over her magic easily, the two girls grew closer as they grew older, inseperable, and the other's only friend.

When Kiri was twelve, her sister Neva was killed in the line of duty with the Seraph. A few months following, a cruel act would leave Kari mentally and physically devastated. Kiri spent the next year caring for her friend and helping her to recover. During this time, Kiri, witnessing the heartbreak of her family, and the pain and hurt of Kari's, decided she didn't want other families to go through that. Eventually, she enlisted in the Seraph, following in her sister's footsteps and leaving the farm to her brother.

At twenty-two, Kiri served in her first battle on the field. Centaurs had attacked her home, and among the casualties were her parents. Vowing revenge, Kiri set out to help end the war. During an investigation into a missing squad, Kiri learned more of the events leading to Neva's death. She tracked down the nobleman responsible, arresting him herself, and finally had her revenge.

Feeling as though she now had a higher purpose, Kiri transferred into the Vigil, where she earned a promotion to Tactician after a year. After another couple of months, she leads a team into Orr, escorting a supply train. They were stalked by an Eye of Zhaitahn, and Kiri attempted to lead the creature astray. She and her team were ambushed, and Kiri was forced to slay her allies as the Dragon turned them against her. She barely survived the attack, and was nearly overwhelmed outside of the Temple of Dwayna, where she would have died if not for Kari's timely rescue. Kari and another friend carried her to safety, to be healed by Valynn Lionhart. Their efforts saved Kiri's life, but leave Kiri feeling guilty and responsible for the lives of the twenty comrades she had lost.

She resigned from the Vigil after delivering the news of her team's deaths personally, and soon became interested in the company Kari had found herself a member of.


((UPDATE IN PROGRESS!))

Kari Tsukino

Name: Kari Tsukino

Age: 27

Family: Yuri Tsukino (mother), Kayin Tsukino (father)

Profession: Elementalist, Intel Agent for the Order of Whispers, dancer, barkeep, and Medical Officer for Moon.

Birthday: 15 of Scion

Height: 5' 0.5"

Weight: 115 lbs

Personality: Kari is polite and diplomatic, for the most part. She is terrified of heights and spiders, but will USUALLY keep her head in a crisis. She cares deeply for her friends, and often worries about her brash childhood playmate, Kiri. She is a girly-girl, and enjoys frequently changing the coloring and appearance of her armor. Despite her polite, cheerful front, Kari deals with very intense emotions, and carries a number of dark secrets about her past and her powers.


Physical appearance: Kari is short-statured and slender, with a faint tan, large, icy blue eyes, and platinum blonde hair that's dyed a blue-ish black. She is very beautiful, and often uses this to her advantage on assignments, since she often seduces the info she seeks out of her targets.
Kari once had chain-shaped scars on her throat and wrists, although they have recently been removed. Very faint outlines of them can still be seen if one looks closely.

Backstory: Kari grew up learning the ins and outs of running a tavern: cooking, cleaning, entertaining guests. As a small child, she would often peek around her mother's skirts, watching food be served, or help her father pick out kegs of ale from the basement. When she was not occupied with her chores and lessons, she ran the fields of Shaemoor with her best friend Kiri.
Kari began to study magic under the tutelage of her mother, around the age of 8, when her elemental powers first began to show. While she possessed raw power, her control was... lacking. Until,that is, she discovered that her emotional state influenced her abilities.
After discovering this quirk to her powers, Kari masters a majority of her spells before her fifteenth birthday, and decides she does not want to run the tavern. When she turns eighteen, she sets out for Lion's Arch. Dancing in bars for tips, she overhears important information concerning a traitor to Kryta, and reports it to the Order of Whispers.

She works with The Order of Whispers, dancing in bars and other seedy locations, listening for information - and charming it out of those who let the tidbits slip - until the day her mother's father died. She sets out on a quest to find his father's will for her mother, a quest that would lead her to joining Serenity Moon.

Since joining the guild, she's made a number of new friends, making time to help and work with them, while also assisting her parents back in Shaemoor. She continues to hone her magical abilities to improve her control.

[img][/img]

Artemis Stars

Also known as: Art (by close friends only)


Profession: Thief

Occupation: Mercenary, specializes in undercover work.

Age: 21

Appearance: Artemis has shoulder-length golden brown curls and deep brown eyes. She has a jagged scar on her right cheek, which she often tries to hide behind her hair… although, this is usually ineffective. She carries a pair of flowering daggers, and a pair of blue antique pistols, which she holsters behind her shoulders instead of at her belt.

Personality: Playful and silly when she’s with people she knows well, but grows a bit shy in unfamiliar crowds. Loves her friends deeply, always willing to lend a hug, a hand, a shoulder, or a blade, should the need arise. She is very open about her dislike of battle, but if fighting needs doing, she will stand and fight with everything she has.


History: Artemis grew up in the comfort of a noble household in the city, daughter of a renowned noble man, Phrixus Lune. Her father taught her everything he knew about the government and leadership, and she took to the knowledge naturally. But when Artemis was 18, Phrixus was arrested for, and found guilty of, treason.
An optimist and naïve young woman, Artemis refused to believe the charges against her father, even after he admitted it to her. It wasn’t until she saw evidence against him that she understood, but once she did, she vowed to right the wrong he had done in any possible way.
She joined the Order of Whispers, and went undercover in the Shining Blade, to investigate allegations of bandit rings working with Separatists and pirates. During that time, she worked closely with Rowiri Maata, and later discovered that he was working with one of the bandit ring leaders, Luca Marco. After Luca discovered her identity, she was forced to run, to protect the Queen, and her own life. She was found by Serenity Moon, and taken in by an ally of Alistair Narave’s for safety.
Her information proves useful when, on the fourth anniversary of the deaths of Kiri Maata’s parents, Luca reveals himself to Alistair and Kiri. Along with Alistair, Kari Tsukino, and Krisella Narave, Artemis manages to put an end to Luca, although the man became a martyr in the eyes of those he worked with.
Artemis now works to end the alliance, and prevent any plans from coming of it. She has also decided to work with Alistair and Byrt Humphrey towards putting an end to Richard Campbell, in return for their help, kindness, and hospitality.

Vasilisa “Lissa” Pajari

Age: 20

Height: 10’4

Weight: 460 lb

Profession: Ranger

Occupation: Scholar/Researcher, adventurer, mercenary, Operative of Moon

Relatives: Jodis Pajari (mother), Dimitri Swiftbreath (father, deceased), Ana Moirai (adopted sister)

Appearance: Vasilisa has thick, dark reddish-black hair, tied into a tail that hangs over her shoulder. Her tanned skin sets off the pale blue eagle tattoo that marks her body, and her piercing blue eyes hold a deep passion for life. She wears Black and dark blue leather armor, covering enough to protect her in a fight, but brief enough to show her skin… and prevent her arctic wolf Dimka from chewing on her coattail. She has several scars marking her arms and legs, earned both in battle and from playing with and training Dimka.

Personality: Vasilisa is kind, gentle, loyal, honest to a fault, and insatiably curious. However, she is also deeply protective of her friends and her animal companions, to the point where she will resort to any means necessary and possible to defend them. This occasionally makes her seem chaotic, although many call her “two-faced”, and it is this personality trait, in combination with frequent mispronunciations of her name, that earned her the nickname “Lissa” by the human Seraph and Priory scholars stationed near her childhood home, a nickname she has grown quite fond of.

Background: Vasilisa grew up in the Seraph/Priory camp in Ossencrest Climb with her mother and adopted sister. Her father was killed in action shortly before she was born, and so she never knew him, aside from the tales of him her mother told her. Jodis also adopted the several months older Ana, a human child whose parents fell alongside Dimitri, and raised her as her own daughter. Vasilisa and Ana were close as children, but have since become distant.

When Vasilisa was ten, she found and rescued a sick and abandoned white wolf pup and nursed him back to health, going so far as to stay up all night researching spells to help him. She named him Dimka, the diminutive of her father’s name, and began to train him as her first animal companion. When she was 15 she began to study ancient nature magics, as well as swordplay and archery. During her studies she was traveling through Wayfarer Foothills and happened upon a skelk attacking a raven’s nest. She slew the creature, but too late. The raven was killed and most of the eggs were destroyed. Vasilisa took the remaining egg and raised the young Raven inside, naming her Nyx.

She was accepted into the Durmand Priory when she was seventeen, and there she began to further her studies of magic and befriended Madeleine Marin, who was also researching ancient magics. The two worked together, combining their areas of knowledge in searching for a cure for the curse carried by Madeleine’s cousin Kiri.

During a journey to find a journal from the Maata family’s past, Vasilisa stumbled upon a gathering of members of Serenity Moon, and decided to accompany them on a mission into Pirate territory. She was accepted into the guild, and hopes they will be able to assist with her research. For now, though, she and Madeleine are undercover, still digging for journals that may hold the key to the cure.

Madeleine Marin


Also known as: Maddie

Age: 31

Height: 5’5

Weight: 125 lb

Profession: Revenant

Occupation: Scholar/Researcher, spell crafter

Relatives: Kiri Maata (cousin), Tania Marin (mother)

Appearance: Maddie has thick, shoulder length brown hair, worn in a braid, and bright blue-green eyes. Her skin was once tanned, but the color has faded over years of being shut in the libraries of the Priory. She often wears a blindfold during moments when she needs to focus on her magic, and is capable of fighting with it on as well. She rarely wears armor, preferring sturdy but comfortable clothing over heavy chainmail and plates, although she understands the need for it and will use it if the situation demands.

Personality: Maddie is very direct and literal, even demanding in dire situations. She says what she means and means what she says, often coming across as brusque. She is studious, intelligent and dedicated to her task. She has a deep sense of justice, and is open about her opinions, ideas, theories, and suspicions. While she is capable of thinking on her feet, she is far more comfortable when she has an idea of what she’s walking into.

Background: Maddie’s childhood was a lonely one. She found it difficult to make friends because she was always reading some book or other and she always wanted to know more. In addition, her “weird magic”, an uncanny knack for communing with the dead, gave her a bad reputation. She spent much of her time either learning martial arts from her mother (and Necromancy theory from her uncle Braith), or reading any material she could find about the Mists.

When Maddie was twelve, her young cousin Kiri began showing signs of a curse that had been thought to have been broken two generations before. She chose then and there to dedicate herself to learning about and breaking the curse. At eighteen, Maddie left Divinity’s Reach and joined the Durmand Priory, almost completely secluding herself in the libraries in her quest for a cure. Nearly ten years later, she returned to what was left of her family with a lead… and a plan.

She returned to the libraries of the Priory after some time and began to further her research. While long hours of work were required for her task, she no longer secluded herself so completely, and began to mentor new Novices entering the Priory. One of these new scholars was a young Norn named Vasilisa, who was studying ancient nature magic. Maddie quickly grew fond of the younger woman, and soon found herself opening up about her research. Lissa agreed to help. With their combined skills and knowledge, the two broke through barriers that had long baffled Maddie as she worked alone, and Maddie also learned to reach into the Mists and harness the powers found within.

Now, the only thing standing in her way is a lack of knowledge about the curse’s history. With Lissa’s help, she is traveling Tyria, searching for journals that contain just that. She hopes to find them and finish developing her theoretical cure soon.

Jace Singh


Profession: Necromancer

Occupation: Scholar, Professional Heartbreaker (According to HIM. His sister, on the other hand, calls him “Professional Nusaince”.)
Former: Carnival Worker – Beetletun

Age: 33

Birthday: 39 Zephyr

Height: 6'2

Weight: 215 lb

Appearance: Although his seemingly permanent teasing grin softens them a bit, Jace's features are sharp. His eyes are often the first thing to be noticed, being a bright, unwavering blue. His deep brown hair is pulled back by a clip, with a little less than half of it being left loose, to hang just above his shoulders, and his mustache and goatee are short and neat. His dark skin accents muscles developed over years of setting up carnival tents for enough money to eat, and training in combat. His right ear is pierced, and he wears a simple moonstone stud in it. The only belonging of his mother's he has, it is his only hint to his noble lineage. While his magician's robes appears to be slightly frayed with age in some places, they are well cared for, and they glow faintly with the protective enchantments* set on them. His weapons are in good repair, and always within easy reach.

(*)Enchantments designed to protect him from magical accidents in the lab… He's got a number of stories to tell about “That time I nearly blew myself up.” The enchantments are untested in magical warfare.

Preferred weapons: Jace typically carries an axe, which he is working on turning into an astronomer's tool to help him with his studies, and small, curved dagger. He also carries a massive greatsword, wickedly curved and barbed.

Personality: Jace's most obvious trait is his tendency to be a jokester or a flirt… or both. With an easy laugh, he enjoys cracking jokes of the adult variety (Though he will restrain himself around children… mostly), and simply being social. The rare few times he is without his grin are moments when he needs to perform a grim task. He is heavily protective of the few remaining members of his family, as he has only recently found them. Despite Jace's fondness for flirting, he is a bit wary of love, as his many attempts at it over the years have ended badly.

History: Jace was born to a noble woman in mid spring. His father had left for another woman during her pregnancy, and heartbroken, she gave up her child, unable to care for him without resentment. She wrote him a letter, explaining her choice and enclosing a gemstone that would help him to find her later, and brought him to the orphanage in Divinity's Reach. A newlywed couple of simple merchants from Kessex Hills came seeking a child at the orphanage about six months later, as they were unable to have one of their own. Seeing Jace, and hearing how his mother had given him up, they decided to raise him and give him the best life they can.

All went well for about the first six years. Jace grew to be a happy, healthy child, full of love and cheeky jokes. He happily helped his parents with their market stall, learned the basics of Necromancy from them, and accompanied them on their trips to and from the city. It was on one of these trips, returning from the city that bandits attacked. His parents told him to run, and frightened, Jace did so, watching from a bush as his parents were slain. Now angry, little Jace managed to summon up enough of his power to stop the bandits, although he fell short of being able to kill them. A Lionguard patrol soon came across the scene, finished subduing the bandits and escorted the stricken child home, to collect his belongings before taking him to the orphanage where his parents found him as a baby.

Jace fell into a depression after the deaths of his parents, only having the will power to go through the motions of his life. Eventually, he found the letter written to him by his birth mother, and slowly, he began to regain hope. He started training his Necromancy, and rapidly grew proficient with it. Around the time he was fifteen, he headed out, using blood magic on the moonstone enclosed in the letter, as his mother had instructed, to locate her. After a number of false leads, Jace found her grave.

All of the hope he had built up since the day he found the letter shattered. He went mad with grief, wandering Queensdale in his shroud, until he passed out in the Beetletun fields. A traveling carnie happened across him, and brought him into the town, where Jace would awaken. He joined the Beetletun Carnival, doing simple, hard labor, and finally began to heal, working to build a life for himself. He started to wear his mother's moonstone as an earring, to remind himself of his past, and as a promise to protect his loved ones in the future.

The years passed, and Jace grew into a strong young man, and a powerful Necromancer. He regained his childhood cheer, and could often be found flirting with the women who visited the carnival. He made several attempts at romance, but they all fell through, and after the last, he chose to take his meager savings and go to Lornar's Pass, where he joined the Priory. Remembering his moonstone earring and how it led him to discovering his mother's fate, he began to study crystals and gemstones, observing how they reacted when exposed to or imbued with magic.

During his studies, he was approached by a scholar studying curses and ancient magic, who sought a way to contain a spell she had developed. Feeling an odd familiarity with her, he agreed to the work. During their work, the feeling grew stronger, and soon the two discovered they were half siblings, related through their father, and that they had another sister as well, although she had died several years prior. Jace, true to his words at fifteen, swore to protect his new-found sister, Maddie, and her cousin, Kiri, who he immediately adopted as his own cousin.

After Kiri's curse broke, and Madeleine's spell deemed successful, his vow would come into question when a way to destroy the crystals containing the curse became needed. On a hunch, he headed into the Maguuma Jungle, hunting Chak for their acid. Here he found himself facing a large group of Mordrem, alongside a young woman, Naomi Marietta, who was out searching for her friend. Talking after the battle, they realized they were headed the same direction and agreed to work together.

When she was reunited with her friend, and he had collected the acid he needed, she invited him to accompany her back to Serenity Moon's headquarters. He instantly began to grow curious about the company, and soon after, he enlisted.

He continues to study crystals and gems, focusing much of his research on bloodstones in an effort to help relieve the effects of the recent bloodstone explosion, and to help prevent future explosions.

Dahy the Just
(pronounced DAH-hee)

Profession: Thief

Occupation: Prison Guard

Age: 5

Birthday: 9 Phoenix

Height: 6'2

Weight: 170 lb

Appearance: Dahy is tall for a Sylvari, but otherwise does not appear physically intimidating. He has a gentle, open expression and only the wary glint in his otherwise soft blue eyes show the darkness he's borne witness to. His pale blue-ish green skin glows a blue that matches his eye color, although it only shows on his face and on his emerald green head-leaves. He wears thick, black leather, lined with tarnished brass. His gear hides a few small weapons for emergencies, and a pair of straps around one leg hold a well-stocked quiver.

Preferred Weapons: Dahy carries several small daggers hidden in his coat and boots, a small short bow, and a pair of pistols, but his favorite is a long, bladed staff. In a pinch, he is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant as well.

Personality: Dahy's gentle expression is far from a mask. He is soft-spoken, with a rich, velvety voice heavy with formality. Still somewhat young, he is often a bit naive about the ways of the world, although he has been through a fair amount of trouble himself and is slowly becoming jaded. He will always step up to defend the innocent, and views everyone as innocent until proven guilty. He is slow to anger, though a few injustices will push him to his limit. As slow as his is to become angry, he is even slower to trust. With a past thick with betrayal, he treasures the friends he has, and will defend them until his dying breath.

History: The Dream of Dreams was filled with lessons for Dahy, lessons that instilled his sense of righteousness and justice. But it was also edged in darkness. In the darkness, he found small flowers, colored similarly to a Sylvari woman who tended them. The woman and her flowers called to Dahy, and he awoke feeling the need to assist her. When he searched The Grove and the surrounding jungle for her, however, he found nothing. Instead, he met another Sylvari, who had been searching for the same woman and flowers since her own awakening seven years prior. Dahy and the Sylvari, named Soairse, become fast friends while they work together, seeking to solve their shared mystery.

Three years go by before the first sign appears. Wandering the swamps of Caledon, Dahy stumbles upon a flower, precisely like that one in his dream. On his rush to return to The Grove and inform Soairse, another Sylvari intercepts him. She is newly awakened, but obviously the woman of his Dream. She simply grins at him, before introducing herself as Misteise. He shows her to his home, and later, he and Soairse accompany her to the location where he found the flower. A couple of years later, Dahy looks back on this moment as the moment his world began to fall apart.

Misteise began cultivating and experimenting on the flower, which she named Death's Pepper. With the help of Dahy, Soairse, and another Sylvari named Cedryk, Misti perfected a potion made from the flower's nectar and some Mesmer magic, that forced the drinker to live their darkest fear. After the final testing, where Dahy began to realize things weren't as black and white with Misti as he thought, Misti began to gather followers who would help her carry out her plans.

The death of Cedryk, Misti's lover, during the final testing pushed Misti into keeping to herself, and Dahy and Soairse had a difficult time knowing what she was planning next. Things came to a head the day Dahy witnessed a group of Misti's people taking a human woman prisoner. He overheard a pair of her guards discussing where she would be taken, but before he could get more information, he was ordered to seek out and destroy the search party that had come for her.

This search party, consisting of Alistair Narave (then John Mohawke) and Kari Tsukino, utterly wiped out Dahy's team, and Dahy himself would be questioned for information. He gives the little information he has, and in return, is offered a second chance.

Jumping at the opportunity, he began working as a guard in Alistair's prison, and his life took a turn for the better. Dahy became friends with the young woman, Kiri, as her time as Misti's prisoner resulted in nightmares, a side effect of the potion intensified by the curse she carried. Being one of the only other survivors of the potion, he felt it was his responsibility to aid in her recovery.

After the crash of the Pact Fleet, Dahy started to fall into some of his old habits, taunted by the voice of the dragon in his head, but, with Kiri and Kari's help, managed to stay out of trouble. He was instead driven to drinking, although the alcohol made the dragon's voice that much louder, until he learned that Misteise (now a captive), had resisted the call, and was seeking to help him reach his goal of finding an antidote for the potion.

He now keeps in touch with Soairse, who monitors Misti closely, and is seeking ways to right the wrongs of his past.